First Soul

Chapter Ten

We walked along a crumbling footpath. The clay like ground wasn't holding up well. I had noticed that we were slowly making our way down. The next concern was, what was down there?

The lack of the sun's lovely heat and the stale, dusty air was really starting to show in our moods and unfortunately, because we were the only ones in this place, we were taking it out on each other. It was hardly surprising really. We were hungry, thirsty and tired.

I didn't know who was controlling this quest but obviously this person wanted to hurt us. I didn't know why we were suddenly the target of this sick puppet show. Because that's what we were. Puppets.

I just didn't know who the puppet master was, yet.

I walked up front with Lester. We hadn't spoken to each other, but this didn't bother me. I was content with Lester acting as my light. Phillip, an absolute genius, had saved a sconce when we'd run from the room of doom. The light had been extinguished in our haste to jump out of the room but, with a little spark of magic from Lester, Phillip and Deyna now had a light. That had made them happy for five minutes until they remembered where they were and why they needed the extra light.

I stopped, my feet positioned ready to run. I could hear something, the shock of hearing anything other than our footsteps put me on alert, plus this sounded different to the bats, angrier. If that were bats then there would be millions of them. I knew that we didn't have the energy to run or fight them off.

We wouldn't stand a chance.

The others slowed, already braced for the next attack. Exhaling whilst my hand touched the barrel of the gun that was secured at my waist, I rounded the corner with Lester.

A river coursed a path through the clay, the water crashed in the tight limitations of the bed until it raged over the edge of the cliff face. I ran without caring what may be launched at me. It was water. I heard the excited cries of joy and felt the ground vibrate with their heavy feet as they followed me. My hands had barely touched the water before I felt the icy sting that only came when touching Lester. I whipped around and glared at Lester whose eyes were wide as they stared.

"Lester, what's wrong with you?"

"You mustn't, it might not be drinkable."

I snatched my hand away and looked down at the water. The water didn't look bad. I wasn't sure what bad water should look like, but it wasn't green with mould, and fish weren't floating to the surface. I kicked my foot against the hard ground in frustration. Deyna and Phillip looked at me, their faces held disappointment. The river was sent to test us, it had to be and damn it, it tested. I tried to swallow but my tongue stuck itself to the roof of my mouth. I couldn't even develop the spit I needed to wash away the dust that latched onto my throat.

"How are we meant to drink?" Phillip stormed. The anger in his voice barely covered the whine.

"I don't know..." Lester stammered. Lester did look genuinely stumped.

"Well, Lester." I sighed. "Ghosts may not need food and water but we do. We need to ea—"

A large screech silenced my complaints. I looked up into the ebony soup above us. Lester instantly shot up and began circling, shielding us. Phillip held the sconce at arm's length as he also turned, searching for the culprit of the noise. What the hell was it? Did I even want to know?

A whoosh sounded before a sudden loud clap. We felt a push of cool air circle around us. Suddenly the sound of flapping wings surrounded us. It was so loud it drowned out the sound of the water surging off the end of the cliff and pounding the ground below. What kind of creature had wings that made this kind of noise?